Chez Panisse Almond Tart Recipe

It comes from Lindsey Shere who was the executive pastry chef and co-owner of Chez Panisse since its inception. Her Almond Tart was the most famous dessert at Chez Panisse for decades until too many customers apparently had a hard time eating it with a fork, so off the menu it went.

I lobbied—hard—to keep it there. Really, I did. But in spite of my best efforts, it only made rare appearances, sliced-thinly, on an occasional cookie plate downstairs in the restaurant. I’m sure the people who were there after I left breathed a sigh of relief, since it was one of the trickiest things to make and they didn’t have to bother anymore. Yet in spite of its difficulty, it’s the most delicious thing I’ve probably ever had. And I’ve had a lot of things that were delicious. Since making one last week, I’ve been passing out wedges to friends and people are blown away by it. No one could believe how good it was.

When I started in the pastry department at Chez Panisse, it would take me hours to get the dough pressed into pans properly and considered bringing them home with me since I was so lame at it. Unlike other pastry doughs, this one is soft and needs to be pressed into the pans: it’s quite sticky and too challenging to roll. To make a long story short, I eventually mastered it, smushing the dough just-right into the tart ring, which I can now do in 30 seconds flat.

This is a tricky recipe but really worth trying and although it was an ‘unauthorized’ substitution at Chez Panisse (I was the rebel…which is why I’m here instead of there nowadays…), I often would replace the almonds with chopped up macadamia nuts, which kept the tart slightly-softer due to the high oil content. And was utterly delicious. Other nuts can be substituted as well, although when all is said and done, this classic is best made with sliced almonds.

A couple of tips for tackling this tart:

-Unlike other doughs, this should be room temperature when you press it in the pan. I’ve tried rolling it but it doesn’t work. Plus this method is much less messy. You could also use the French tart dough, which works well, too.

-Don’t overbeat the butter for the dough and be sure to save a nubbin which you can use to patch any holes once the tart shell is baked off.

-If you forget to save a bit of dough…like someone did around here…just mix a bit of flour and water together to make a thick slurry and use that to fill in any and all gaps on the just-baked tart shell. And don’t be shy! If it looks like it might leak, it probably will. So fix it.

-Use an old pair of oven mitts for handling the tart when taking it out of the oven. The caramel is a tad sticky and it’s likely to adhere to the gloves.

– Be sure to line the lower rack of the oven with foil to catch any leaks and spills.

-At Chez Panisse, we used 9-inch (23cm) tart rings, but I used my 10-inch (26cm) and it worked fine.

1. Mix the flour and sugar in a standing electric mixer or food processor (or by hand, using a pastry blender.)

2. Add the butter and mix or pulse until the butter is in very small pieces, the size of rice. It should be pretty well-integrated with no large visible chunks.

3. Add the water and extracts and mix until the dough is smooth and comes together.

4. Press into a flat disk, wrap in plastic and chill thoroughly.

5. To put the pastry in the pan, let the dough come to room temperature and press the dough into a tart shell using your hand.

It takes some practice but don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect. Try to get the dough relatively flat on the bottom, and push it evenly up the sides with your thumbs. But once again, it doesn’t need to be perfect, but you do want to make sure the sides don’t collapse. If that happens, you can take it out midway during baking, and push the half-baked dough back up the sides.

6. Put the tart shell in the freezer and chill thoroughly.

7. To bake the shell, preheat the oven to 375F (190C).

8. Bake the shell for 20-30 minutes, until it is set and light golden-brown.

9. Remove from the oven and patch any holes with leftover dough.

For the tart filling

1. To bake the tart, line the rack under the one you plan to use with a sheet of aluminum foil to catch any spills and drips.

2. Heat the cream, sugar, and salt in a big, wide heavy-duty pot (use one that’s at least 4 qts, 4l) until it begins to boil.

Continue to cook and when it starts to foam up, remove it from the heat and stir in the almonds, the almond extract, and the liquor.

3. Scrape the filling into the shell. If there’s a bit too much filling, don’t toss it; in case the tart leaks, you can use it to add more.

Make sure there are no clumps or piles of almonds and that everything is evenly distributed, then put the filled tart shell into the oven.

4. After the first ten minutes, check the tart.

Take a heatproof rubber spatula, holding it diagonally and with a tapping motion, break up the surface of the tart. Doing this is very important since it avoids the top of the tart getting that ‘corn flaky‘ look.

Be sure to give the filling a good series of ‘taps’—not enough to break the tart shell pastry underneath, but it’s important to break up the surface crust that’s forming.

5. Continue to cook, checking the tart every 5-8 minutes, and break up any dry crust that may be forming, getting less aggressive as the filling sets up. As it begins to caramelize, stop tapping it and let the tart do its thing.

6. Remove the tart from the oven when the filling is the color of coffee with a light touch of cream in it and there are no large pockets of gooey white filling, about 30 minutes. Let the tart cool a few minutes on a cooling rack.

7. Check and see if the tart has fastened itself to the tart ring. Slide a knife (or a curved vegetable peeler, which will slide nicely in between the ridges) between the tart and the pan to loosen it so the sides don’t come off when you remove the ring.

8. To remove the ring, rest the tart on top of a solid object (like a tall jar) and gently coax the ring off. Slip a large spatula underneath it to return the tart to a cooling rack.

Once completely cool, run a long chef’s knife under the tart to release it from the bottom. If it’s stubborn, set the tart on top of a warm stove burner for a second or two and you should be able to pry it off.

Voilà! Be proud of your first, infamous Chez Panisse Almond Tart.

Serve in small wedges either as a dessert, or as a cookie-like accompaniment to fresh fruit, bowl of ice cream or sorbet, or a compote.

Advanced Planning: The dough can be made in advance, and chilled (maximum 4 days) or frozen longer. The dough, once pressed in the tart pan, can be frozen. Wrap in plastic if you don’t plan to bake it within 48 hours. Once made, the tart should be kept at room temperature. If not eaten the same day, wrap in plastic wrap. The tart is best the first day but can be kept for up to 4 days.

I just finished reading the Alice Waters bio by Thomas MacNamee, which makes me really want to try this (he sings Lindsey Shere’s praises), and your instructions are so clear and nicely illustrated. Adding it to my list. Thanks!

(I think your correspondent is referencing the fact that infamy means “famous because of a bad quality,” like Pearl Harbor Day. So maybe the tart is infamous for being difficult to make, or bad for your arteries. But clearly very very good for your taste buds!)

timhenk

February 10, 2008 11:40am

Looks awesome. I’ll be making this today.

I’m guessing you used all purpose flour. Would pastry flour be acceptable, or is the filling too dense/heavy?

I am SO Making that. I know now, I NEED to spend my Sunday playing with ‘nubbins’! I would make it right now if I had heavy cream, because I have everything else. I am still in my pyjamas so I can’t nip out to the corner shop just yet.

infamous just sounds so much better than famous. It would probably come across as a little arrogant to describe one of your own things as famous, but by calling it infamous it gets more street cred. I think. What the hell do I know?

I am SO making this TOO!! Thanks for sharing and for all the little tips along the way, you are fabulous! Mwaaah!!

Flor

February 10, 2008 4:46pm

David, thank you for all your suggestions on the must foods of Paris. We followed them and Eric Kayser’s breads were just wonderful.

Do you think you can get the recipe for this tart that was a combination of pistachio and raspberry. It was bright green with raspberries and they sold it in cut up squares. It was so delicious that we were wondering if it would be a possible tart to bake at home.

Hi David, I remember the first time trying this dessert, we gilded the lilly and added lemon curd and candied violet, it was the 80’s! I thank you for sharing it, when I worked at the Drake Hotel moon years ago, we made a similar concoction of Swiss orign! Engadine Walnuss torte, double crusted carmel walnut cake, served with vanilla ice cream so decadent, but so good! Oh yeah, I sent Hillary the link of your Dr. Gupta and CNN story on health care, you know the media is part or most of the problem, they own all the radio and television and make news what they want you to hear!

Ciao

M

February 10, 2008 8:08pm

Quel Formidable! Vous avez plus de la chance que moi, parce que vous habitez en France! If my french is ungrammatically correct, please correct me. Anyway-how do you know when you have made something “infamous?” Is it the result of making something many times? Looks good. I like your sarcastic sense of humour, chocolate-and your books. Merci!

Okay, this looks amazing and I cannot express my gratitude enough that you’ve posted the recipe, but in truth, I’m still hung-up on your drive-by emailer and the Ginger Cake. Are you kidding me? That thing is Deliciousness Incarnate.

Most of the food I eat is raw, but amazing desserts like the Chez Panisse Almond Tart make me welcome the occasional digression… even if it’s only a mouthwatering fantasy at this moment. Great post.

timhenk

February 10, 2008 10:35pm

Thanks, David!

Richard Clark

February 10, 2008 10:48pm

My wife and I remember having this tart (by a Chez Panisse alumnus) at Bay Wolf when we started dating many years ago. You should have seen the look on her face when I said “honey, I have a recipe for _that_ almond tart…”

Deb: Since the tart shell is baked without the filling, I’d recommend doing it as advised. I don’t know about using agave in the filling; does it caramelize?

Lynut: That was the first one! But believe me—there’s gonna be more…

KateC

February 11, 2008 3:57pm

That Fresh Ginger Cake certainly is famous! References to yourself came up when I was searching for a ginger cake recipe several years ago and led me to your site. Now I read your site daily and have all of your cookbooks!

Flor

February 11, 2008 4:58pm

Thank you for the suggested book on Eric Kayser. I will get it when we get back to the states.

Lesley

February 11, 2008 8:53pm

Oh that looks divine. Will try it soon. I love that you said ‘in cahoots”…the best expression…

Hi, and I love this site. I just posted some of my Country Cajun Recipes on my blog and wanted to let you know. I’m doing this in conjunction with my project, The Beatitudes Network-Rebuilding the Public Libraries of New Orleans. I am donating all of the royalties from the sale of my book, The Beatitudes, directly to the New Orleans Public Library Foundation. I’m 100% Cajun and food brings people to the table to eat and talk about books! Enjoy the recipes, like Pain Perdu (Lost Bread) that kept the Acadians alive during their trek from Canada to Louisiana. Merci mille fois- thanks a million. Lyn LeJeune

wow, that looks intensely amazing. if i didn’t have to make doughnuts tonight to get in under Tartelette’s deadline, i would totally be making this.

i firmly believe that adding a drop of almond extract to almost any baked good will make it better.

Meredith

February 13, 2008 4:50pm

This has been my standby dinner-party tart for years (thanks Lindsey!) But actually in my experience you can skip the ‘tapping’ step without getting the cornflake top if you just make sure the almonds are well-distributed before you put it in to bake. It isn’t gooey at all. Grated orange peel in the tart and/or crust also adds something special. DELICIOUS.

Martin

February 14, 2008 6:25pm

David, for what it’s worth, my family and I took a Skype phone with us to Paris in December 07 and January 08. I set it up in the United States before our trip and it worked perfectly with my laptop in France.

The apartment we were renting had wireless internet and the phone base plugs into a USB port on the laptop. I had to get a “skype out” account for calls back to the US, but in over a week, I spent a total of $3.00 for about 20+ calls. Look for them on e-bay.

That’s where I got mine for $25.00 upon the recommendation of a well traveled friend. Good luck

Signe

February 15, 2008 8:02pm

Scallions: You could easily grow your own. If you get some onion sets and plant them in a flower pot close together, you’ll soon have green onions. If you can’t get onion sets, plant onion seeds and eat the thinnings. If you can’t get seeds, try using a regular onion – plant it or just let it spoil and it will grow green tops which are good to eat and they’ll be even more tender than scallion greens!